Written in Bone
by Emec
Summary: One of my characters, Saga, goes through a life changing journey, starting with a battle against the Skeleton King.
1. Chapter 1

I own Saga and Ygrene.

Chapter 1

A cold wind drifted through Shuggazoom City, urging the inhabitants inside. Dark clouds covered the sky, painting the world gray. Even the least intelligent of beasts could sense the coming storm and hid away. It was as if Nature itself was sending a warning about what the events of the day could hold.

A lone figure that looked for all the world like a tall human male with one eye stood atop a tall hill. He wore a tattered, dark gray cloak over a blue shirt and black pants. His hair was silver in color and his eye was red. He lifted his hand, on which he wore a blue glove, and stared for a moment.

Although this creature looked human, he knew that he was not. He did not know what type of life form he was. Once he had been a robot, but a powerful spell had transformed him forever. His single eye showed him more than the two normal eyes ever could.

"It sounds like a fairytale," he said. "I guess that Saga is a good name for me."

Saga looked up towards the sky. He knew that beyond those clouds, somewhere in space, the Skeleton King, his former master, was planning his next move against the city. Saga had done many tings that he regretted, coming closer than most to conquering Shuggazoom in the name of Skeleton King. He had probably killed several innocent people, and he had almost destroyed the lives of many others. He could take the easy way out and blame his actions on the dark spirit that had once dwelled within him, but he knew that the demon known as Eganrac had only added to the darkness that was already in his heart and supplied much of the power Saga had used.

"Back to the matter at hand," muttered Saga. He wanted nothing more than to make up for what he had done and begin again. So he would free the universe from the evil that all who knew of it feared. He would kill the Skeleton King.

Saga began to breathe more slowly and focused his mind. A sensation of pain rushed over his body, but since Saga had changed into this form before, it passed quickly. Saga was soon in the form of a winged Lindorm. Although he was much smaller than he had been when he turned into a Lindorm to attack the city, his body was much more complex this time. He had added the dragon Ygrene's ability to fly through space.

Saga looked towards the sky and opened his wings. He took off towards space, rising through the clouds. Soon he reached the atmosphere, which he passed through with less trouble then he'd expected.Upon reaching the vacuum of space, he stopped breathing. However, he didn't feel light-headed, or even like he was holding his breath. Still, he wanted to get to the Citadel of Bone as soon as possible.

After a little searching, Saga reached his destination. He fired a small energy blast and burned his way inside, after which he seemed to fade into the shadows. He slipped towards Skeleton King's throne room. Formless seemed to simply fall apart as he went past. When Saga encountered Skeleton King, he didn't want there to be any interference.

Once he was satisfied that it would be a one on one fight, Saga forced open the door to the throne room. As he entered, he transformed, taking on a form he had developed specifically for this reason. He walked over to Skeleton King, who got up from his throne and prepared for battle.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"So, you've returned," said Skeleton King coolly.

"Shut up and fight," said Saga.

"You don't want to try and find out my plans, or tell me why you chose that form?" asked Skeleton King, feigning hurt.

"It should be obvious," said Saga. His body had taken the shape of a large monkey with grayish fur, one red eye, pointed ears, and a long powerful tail. In fact, his entire form looked strong, perhaps more like a silverback gorilla than a monkey. However, the most striking feature was the large, bluish crystal claw/blade coming out of each arm just above the wrist. Suddenly, the claw on his right arm extended and Saga rushed forward, striking out with it. Skeleton King blocked the attack with his staff.

"I expected better," sneered Skeleton King.

"How's this?" said Saga. As he spoke, he jumped at Skeleton King, attacking with both claws. There was a gray energy radiating from the claws as well. Skeleton King countered with dark magical energy. He disrupted Saga's energy and slammed him away with his staff, breaking Saga's left arm.

"On your own, you're weak!" taunted Skeleton King. Saga shot a blast of energy from his right hand, then dashed forward, attacking with his claw yet again.

"Fool, if it didn't work last time, how can you expect it to work now?" said Skeleton King. He reached out his left hand and used dark energy, this time with a touch of anima magic, too. Saga's fur caught fire, but the fire was darkest black. Skeleton King began to laugh, then lifted his staff for the final blow…and got a big surprise.

"What's the matter, did you think that my other arm was totally useless?" inquired Saga. His left hand was tightly clamped onto Skeleton King's staff. Saga began to pump his energy into the staff, and it flowed through it into Skeleton King, much the way an electric current travels through metal. Then, suddenly, the world began to warp around the two combatants. Reality itself began to strain, and in only a few seconds, there was a burst of energy not unlike an explosion. However, it was totally silent; in fact, it seemed to remove all sound from the room. Then, the energy collapsed in on itself, then faded away, leaving an empty, quiet room.

A little later, Saga and Skeleton King began to wake up in a wondrous new world. The sky was blue and gray, with lights spiraling around each other. The trees seemed to sparkle and, indeed, glow. The fruit shone like lighthouse beacons from the emerald green canopy. The soil was a pale gray color and several clear crystals could be seen growing out of the ground.

"What just happened?" blurted Saga.

"Isn't it obvious? I was using dark and anima magic, while you were using that gray mess that you control. Being made of light and dark energy, your power is chaotic in nature. When you grabbed my staff, the combination was 2 parts dark, one part anima, and one part light. Normally the dark energy would cause a powerful explosion that would hurt us both. But the nature of the light energy caused it to work against that. It wasn't powerful enough on its own, so it reacted with the anima magic, causing the dark energy to attack the natural realm. This created a tear in the very fabric of reality, which the remaining light energy tried to neutralize, causing the formation of a portal. Duh," said Skeleton King.

"Okay... We didn't all take advanced sorcery in high school, or whatever it is you did to learn that stuff," said Saga.

"Do you want me to repeat that for you?" said Skeleton King smugly.

"No, I understood what you said. But there was no way I was going to get that one by myself," responded Saga. "So I guess that if either one of us wants to get back, he shouldn't kill the other just yet."

"Why else would you still be alive?" said Skeleton King.

"Because you can't beat me," said Saga. Skeleton King tried to attack him, but he only caused a few sparks.

"What the…" he muttered. Saga decided to check his own powers out, and found that his energy had also dwindled, and he could only turn switch between his current form and his normal one. Then, as if to make matters worse, a terrified voice rang out, "Demons!"

Saga and Skeleton King turned towards where the sound had come from and saw what was apparently an elf woman. Behind her were several heavily armed guards. Saga and Skeleton King soon found themselves in the back of a prison wagon.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Saga and Skeleton king were taken to a large, dark-gray stone building. The guards forced them inside, where a group of men in white robes stood waiting for them. Each of them had a shaved head and held a staff with a golden sun handle.

"Priests, these demons were found outside the city," said the lead guard. He had shinier armor than the others, along with a few colorful badges on the red vest that they all wore over their chest plates.

"As with all demons, take them to the special holding cells on the fourth floor. They will get no food or water," said one of the priests.

"What? I demand that you release me!" said Skeleton King.

"Silence!" said one of the guards.

"We're not demons!" shouted Saga. The priests turned their heads towards him, looks of surprise on their faces.

"This is odd," said a priest.

"You don't _believe_ him, do you?" said another.

"You know as well a I do that no demon has ever claimed not to be. They go insane almost immediately upon capture and focus all of their energy on struggling to escape," said the first.

"We should give them a test," said a different priest. "Take them to the special cells, but give them water. We will decide upon a test for them." The guards bowed slightly and did as they were told. They took Saga and Skeleton King through hallways of prison cells until they reached some with pure white stone and metal bars.

"Great," muttered Skeleton King. Saga sighed, then sat down and looked at his left arm. It was hurting very badly, and he hadn't had a chance to address the problem.

Saga closed his eye and placed his right hand over it. Then he scanned his left arm. After studying it for a moment, he put his right hand on his left arm. Saga took a deep breath, then applied a lot of pressure to the bone, until everything was back in place. Then, he rubbed his hand over his arm, trying to use as much energy as he could to try and heal himself. It didn't do very much, but it did help some.

By the time Saga hadfinished working on his arm, the guards had returned. They opened the cell and took Saga and Skeleton King too a large room with a strange symbol on the floor and candles all around. The two were roughly shoved into the center of the room, and priests quickly surrounded them. They began to chant, and Saga's and Skeleton King's eyes, mouths, and ears began to glow. They tried to run, or attack, or something, but they couldn't move. Soon the chanting stopped, and the guards went over to Saga and Skeleton King to restrain them. Then, a priest spoke.

"We will give you a chance to free yourselves. You must promise that you will go after the mountain beast that often attacks this village," he said. Saga and Skeleton King were all too happy to agree. The body parts that had been glowing before began to do so again.

"You are now bound to your promise. Get going," said a different priest.

Saga and Skeleton King walked out of the village, grumbling to themselves. After that they walked in silence for a while, the enchantment leading the way. Eventually, Skeleton King broke the silence.

"Well, I suppose that whatever this thing is, it'll go down faster if we work together," he said.

"Truce until we get home, or are sureif we're stuck here forever, anyway?" asked Saga.

"Fine," said Skeleton King.

Meanwhile, in the village, the priests were talking.

"If they are demons, they'll never be able to fight the Ashidoragon, an Overlord Demon," said one priest.

"If they come back, then we know that they were telling the truth," said another.

"We will then repay them for destroying the monster," said a third.

Back with Saga and Skeleton King, the two had reached the foothills of the mountains, and in fact had started climbing. Neither of them wanted to stop and chat, so they just continued moving. Soon, they came upon a large cave. There were some blood-stained rocks around the mouth, probably from villagers being dragged inside by the monster. Of course, that didn't phase Saga or Skeleton King, who entered the cave prepared to fight.

Roars echoed from the deeper chambers. Although they were probably meant to cause fear, they actually made it easier to find the monster's lair. When Saga and Skeleton King entered, they came face to face with a dark purple dragon. It had ram's horns and tattered wings. The entire creature looked as if it was decaying, but it didn't give off an aura of weakness. It's presence made one feel unclean…as if its infection were spreading just from being this close.

Saga shook his head and rushed forward. Skeleton King hadn't hesitated and was using his staff to attack the beast, and Saga followed up on the attack. The dragon fired a sickly green mouth blast, which Saga frantically dodged. Skeleton King got to the dragon's side and began to attack its belly. When the dragon finished firing its blast, it turned its attention to getting Skeleton King away from its weak spot. It slashed at Skeleton King, sending him flying into a wall. Saga struck at the beast's neck, careful to keep away from the dragon's blood. As the dragon turned to attack Saga, Skeleton King jumped forward, slamming his staff into the creature's head. The flesh began to rip where Saga had cut it, and the dragon's head flew off.

Saga looked at the monster's decapitated form, then at its head, over in the corner. He left the cave, and went to get some wood. He came back a few minutes later and started a small fire. He burned the area where he cut had been made, then put out the fire and grabbed the dragon's head by the horn. Skeleton King left the cave and headed back to the village, in case there was more to getting the enchantment removed. Saga carried the beast's head and followed.

Please review!


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Upon reaching the village, Saga and Skeleton King were met with stares and gasps. They gave the people a few questioning looks, but continued on to where they had been held. The priests met them at the gates.

"That you have fought and defeated this creature of the pit that you spoke the truth," said one priest.

"Yeah, thanks for that," said Saga, with more than a hint of sarcasm.

The priests turned to Skeleton King and one of them said, "Sir, you and your…pet will be given-"

"Pet?" interrupted Saga. "I am no one's pet!" To prove his point, he shifted back to his normal form. The priests looked at him funny, then the one that had been speaking before continued what he had been saying.

"The two of you will be paid and given any reasonable aid that you need, both to make amends for our mistake and thank you for fighting the monster," he said.

"All we want is to get home," said Skeleton King. With no minions and little power, he didn't want to risk trying anything unless he was trapped forever anyway.

"We will provide money and supplies for your trip. Where is it that you're from? One of the northern kingdoms?" said a priest.

"No, we were sent here by a portal," said Saga.

"Hmm, portal magic…I believe that there is a wizard's academy in the capitol, Gygalo, that contains some information on the subject. Perhaps you can find someone qualified to make a gateway back to wherever you are from," said yet another priest.

"Then I suppose that's where we're going," sighed Skeleton King.

A few hours later found Saga and Skeleton King walking down a wide road. Each carried some amount of money, as neither one trusted the other, truce or not. Each carried a map, although Saga didn't have his out at the moment. Saga also had a new cloak. He and Skeleton King both had some food, too, although Saga ate little, if anything. (Note: I'm not sure if Skeleton King needs to eat, or how much but I'm fairly certain I remember seeing him eat, so I'm going to say that he does.)

The two of them continued on tirelessly for a few days. Near twilight on the third day, they could see light in the distance. They continued on just as they had been, but then Saga stopped abruptly. He turned and dashed into the bushes by the side of the road. He came back with a small boy, no more than eight, over his right shoulder. Saga held the bag that had held his coins in his left hand.

"A pickpocket. How…quaint," said Skeleton King. "Hurry up and dispose of him. If at all possible, I want to get back to my ship as soon as possible."

At Skeleton King's words, the boy, who had been struggling to free himself from Saga's grasp, went limp, and his face became pale. Saga looked up at him.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to kill you. But you're no gong to keep doing this. Maybe we can get you a job in the city or something," said Saga.

"Suit yourself. But you're not going to waste my time," said Skeleton King. He continued towards the city and Saga followed, carrying the child in case he'd try to run off.

Please review!


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

I'm sorry this took so long. I couldn't think of anything. Please enjoy.

The city of Gygalo was huge by any standards. But after quite a bit of searching, Saga and Skeleton King finally found the Wizard's Academy of the Crimson Rose and were waiting to be sent home. The kid Saga had found had taken a job running errands for the professors, mostly because he was afraid that Saga would kill him otherwise.

"Gentlemen, if you will follow me?" came the voice of one of the wizards. Saga and Skeleton King silently walked after him. They entered a room that seemed to be made almost entirely of crystal. Everything that wasn't crystal was some type of strange metal.

"It should only take us a few hours to send you home," said a different wizard.

"Hours? We've already been here for hours!" said Skeleton King. If he didn't need those wizards, he would have blasted them and left. He'd wasted far too much time.

"It's either wait or don't leave," said the wizard who had led them in. Skeleton King had to focus to keep from killing the man right there, while Saga listened to the conversation silently.

Meanwhile, in the hills, a dark presence was stirring. Defeating a demon is often not without repercussions. Not only were the beast's former minions planning to take their revenge, but rival groups wanted to claim its territory. As the moon rose, an army, unorganized but an army nonetheless, headed towards the city of Gygalo, following the trail of the demonslayers. Some wished to kill them and their loved ones to take revenge, some wished to kill them and prove their strength. Some just wished to kill.

Saga and Skeleton King stood on a big platform with large crystal rings circling them. There were several wizards holding their hands up while chanting. Soon, they knew that they would be home. Once these hooded figures finished charging the rings, they would begin the process of transferring the two travelers home.

The chanting stopped, and the rings began to glow and spin faster. Suddenly, there came a crash. The wizards turned to see what had happened, and were immediately attacked by huge numbers of creatures. Many were torn apart before they could even react. The rest tried to cast spells and destroy the beasts, but they just kept coming. Saga would have tried to help, but he was being transported. He couldn't move. Skeleton King just watched and sighed, annoyed that things were taking so long. Then, a demon with a body in its mouth went past. It turned and Saga saw a familiar face. Then, everything went black.

Saga and Skeleton King appeared a few feat above the ground in Shuggazoom and floated down to the familiar soil. Skeleton King lifted his hand, apparently calling out to the Citadel of Bone or his formless or something. He was in no way fazed by what had just happened. Saga, however, was.

"What did we just do?" stammered Saga. He received nothing more than a laugh from the Skeleton King. "Do you even care?"

"Of course not. And why do you?" said Skeleton King. "You were made, less than a year ago. And it wasn't even by the girl who you think created you. She was able to persuade some of my minions to do her dirty work, and she just added a few things to you. She didn't know how to do much else. Although, I think that she was able to add more than she knew. You were a much stronger robot than you should have been, and smarter, too."

"What are you talking about? You wouldn't have let her join you if she wasn't as skilled as she said that she was!" said Saga.

"Fool. I was impressed by her nerve and her planning," answered Skeleton King.

"It doesn't matter how I came to be! I'm alive now!" shouted Saga.

"Yes, and you were made flesh so that it would be possible to kill you. The only reason that you yet live is because you escaped your fate, then tried to show that you could be "good." But you can't, can you?" said Skeleton King.

Saga looked down at the ground, and muttered something. He then looked back up at Skeleton King with a very pained expression on his face. Skeleton King simply laughed again.

"You can't even cry, can you?" he asked. Saga didn't answer immediately, and it seemed he would never get the chance, as a small ship, one designed for stealth, landed nearby. Skeleton King boarded it, and Saga didn't even try to stop him.

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	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

'I need answers.' That though kept going through Saga's mind, over and over with no end in sight. Where could he get such answers? He wasn't about to go to Skeleton King for help, and the monkeys wouldn't know anything about his origin.

"But maybe they can tell me something I need to know," muttered Saga.

In the Super Robot, the monkey team was training. They had no idea of what had happened over the past few days, and they were using their extra time to prepare for the next attack. Antuari was currently monitoring the others. Chiro, Sprx, and Nova were going through a new obstacle course that Gibson had designed and Otto had built. The blue and green monkey were sparring.

Saga knew exactly who he wanted to talk to. The idea of being subtle didn't even occur to him. He charged his right hand with energy and ripped open the door to the Super Robot. He charged his feet and dashed forward, ignoring the alarms. In a few seconds, he'd found the monkeys and Chiro. They had started to react to the alarms, but Saga appeared as a blur. He grabbed the black monkey, Antuari, and we gone. It was almost as if there was nothing more than a shimmer in the air and Antuari had vanished.

Saga carried the black monkey far away, out of Shuggazoom. In the middle of nowhere, he calmly set Antuari down, then sat across from him, with an expression that made it seem as though he thought that this was normal.

Antuari looked at Saga, wondering why he had been brought here. He let out an uncertain groan, and Saga cocked his head. "I want you to teach me," he said.

Antuari was taken aback, and he simply answered, "What do you want to know?"

"What is good?" asked Saga.

"What?" responded Antuari. It was an odd question.

"I was made to be evil, but the closest I've ever been to this thing called 'happy' was when I was fighting for you, the 'good guys,' instead," said Saga. "And so, I want to know how to be good, or if it is even possible for me to do."

"That's great!" said Antuari. "The very fact that you want to be god is a great start. Now-" He was cut off by someone yelling, "Monkey Fu!" and Saga was blasted off by a blast of green energy.

The monkey team was there to defend their leader, and Chiro was already fighting off Saga. Saga had just declared that he wanted to be good, so he didn't want to fight the ones who he saw as the good guys. He backed up quickly, using his energy to block Chiro's further attacks. The boy followed just as quickly and soon they were a fair distance away.

Antuari tried to yell to them that there was a misunderstanding, but no one heard him in the confusion. By the time he got the attention of the monkeys, who were preoccupied with the idea of rescuing one of their own, Chiro was much to far away to hear. Antuar had to hope that the often blunt Saga could communicate well enough to calm Chiro down.


	7. Chapter 7

Beastfire - Thank you!

Supa-nova-101 - Thank you!

4evermonkeyfan - Thank you! I will borrow Adriana (I had no ideas and it would have been a while before I wrote another chapter. This is probably better anyway). Oh, and to answer the question you put in your review of Powers and Peoples, yes, you can borrow Saga.

Chapter 7

Chiro followed Saga, using various attacks every so often. Saga was able to neutralize most of them, but a few got through, and Saga was getting angry. Eventually, he gave in and struck back. He charged his fist with energy and punched Chiro in the stomach, knocking him backwards. However, he didn't really want to hurt the boy. That wasn't him anymore. Saga raised his hand to the sky and let of a burst of energy in the form of a bright flash. This served two purposes. It showed the monkeys where Chiro was, and allowed him to slip away unnoticed while Chiro was rubbing his eyes.

Upon returning to the city, Saga allowed himself to be swept away into the crowd. All it took was him leaving his hair long enough to cover where his left eye should be in order for him to avoid notice. If that ever stopped working, he could simply create a new form to change into, though in truth a full transformation wasn't that simple. Especially creating a left eye; Saga didn't know why that was so difficult, but it was.

The sun set and Saga continued to walk around until he got an idea of where to go, and soon he wandered into an open area with benches and a few trees. It wasn't really a park; there was too much metal and concrete, no matter what people called it. However, it was still a quiet place, where people often came to draw or play music. Currently, someone was playing the flute. It wasn't a sad song, like the kind Saga liked, but it was still nice, and he sat on a bench to listen for a while.

The music truly was beautiful, and Saga allowed his mind to drift as he listened. Without really focusing, he looked around at the others listening to the music. Then, he saw a female monkey, in the outer rim of the group around the musician. She was as mesmerized by the song as Saga had been moments before, and hadn't seen him.

At first, Saga wondered why he had been snapped back to reality, but then he saw it. The eyes, green with gold pupils, told him the story. This was the girl whom he had met a while back, Adriana, except in her monkey form.

Only moments after Saga had seen her, the song ended, and she turned to leave. She looked up at a small clock tower and seemed surprised, then began to hurry away. Saga followed her, changing into his monkey form, although he didn't know why he felt that this was a good idea.

In the alley, Saga caught up to her and spoke up to get her attention. Unfortunately, his inexperience in communication kept him from making his voice calm, and he surprised her. The blade/claws didn't help, and she ended up grabbing his arm and flipping him. However, he reached out his hand and caught himself, actually landing in a one-handed handstand. His eye was wide open at this point, and one large red eye isn't something a person forgets. And since Adriana knew about his ability to alter his shape, she realized who he was. As Saga hopped back to his feet, she voiced that fact by calling his name. "Saga?"


	8. Chapter 8

Yes! After a long time away I have returned! I have so much catching up to do, and there are so many new things…anyway, I'm sorry for being gone for so long! Anyway, remember, Adriana is 4evermonkeyfan's character.

Chapter 8

"Saga?"

Saga looked at Adriana and smiled an uncertain smile. "Yep, it's me," he said. He was surprised to have her cover her mouth with her hands and apologize. His smile became wider. "It's okay. It's good to see you."

Adriana smiled back, then remembered the time. "Oh, I'm running late; I have to go."

"Can I come with you?" asked Saga. Adriana nodded, then started to continue the way she had been going. They exited the alley and were headed down a larger street. There were bright lights in many windows and in front of various establishments. But when Adriana got where she was going, she was surprised to find a locked door and no lights on.

"Closed? It shouldn't be closed today. No one told me anything about this!" she stated. Saga walked closer to her.

"What is this place?" he asked her.

"Oh, it's not really that important. But I would have been doing something else tonight if I hadn't been asked to show up here, and now it's too late…" explained Adriana. Saga shrugged.

"Well, is there something else that you'd like to do?"

Adriana smiled at Saga. "Come with me," she said. Saga followed her, and soon they reached another building. Inside, there were people drinking coffee and talking, and there was a person playing the saxophone on a small stage. Adriana led Saga to a table and they sat down across from each other. She ordered coffee, and Saga decided to do so as well.

As Adriana added cream to her coffee and stirred it, she looked at Saga. "It's been a while," she stated.

"True," said Saga, taking a sip of his coffee. He didn't add anything to it. "How have things been?"

"Overall, I'd say that things have been going well for me. How about for you?" replied Adriana.

"So-so, I guess. I've been doing a lot of thinking," said Saga.

"About what?" asked Adriana.

"Life," stated Saga. "That's the best way to say it, I think."

"Quite a subject. Anything…specific?"

"Well…I've been wondering about a lot of things. It's confusing. Sometimes I have to stop and find something to help me get my emotions out," said Saga.

"What do you do?"

"I've been trying a few different things. Nothing really helps that much."

Adriana looked into her cup for a long moment, then back up at Saga. "Where have you been?" she asked.

"Most of the time I wander around, but sometimes I stop and rest for a while. Usually it's in a cave I found. Sometimes I sleep in this one empty building I found, and for the last few days I've been…well, I'm not entirely sure where it was. You see, I tried to kill the Skeleton King, and I couldn't do it. There was some kind of magic portal, and it took a while to get back," explained Saga.

Adriana's eyes were wide and she was looking at Saga in surprise. "You tried to defeat the Skeleton King by yourself? How could you think that you could beat him alone? We're going to need to find a place where I can make sure that you don't try anything that stupid again!" She had stated it that way because Saga would accept good advice more likely than he would simple help. But in truth, Adriana was worried about him, and she wanted to do something for him.

That's all I have for now. Please review!


	9. Chapter 9

Adriana awoke some time the next day, lying atop something softer than the floor but not soft enough to be comfotable. She had slept in; in this place, which had a strong earthy smell, there was still no light, and it was eerily quiet. She couldn't even hear Saga breathing or anything to tell her that she wasn't alone here.

Saga...memories of the events that had brought her here, and everything up until she fell asleep, began to trickle back into her mind. She got up, thinking to go find Sage, where ever in this place he had gone. She began to walk in the direction she was facin when she stood up.

After a short walk, she found that she had gone the wrong way, when she reached a dead end. She turnd around and walked back the way she had come, passing the space she had used for a bed the night before. The place began to brighten up as she walked, and she could see things Saga had either carefully placed or haphazardly set up. The view of the overall decorating scheme changed from item to item. But one thing caught her eye, obviously placed there where she would see it.

It was a painting, one of her and Saga, embracing each other in the light of the moon. Adriana found herself unable to look away for a while, longer than she would have normally been drawn to such a painting, even one of such beauty. She couldn't guess when Saga had made this; though the picture was not a perfect, true to life depiction of the two of them, the flaws, rather than take away from the overal quality, added an etherial, almost mesmerizing aspect to it. It was a while before she noticed a letter, addressed to her, leaning against it.

Just as soon as Adriana had picked up the letter, she heard a loud explosion coming from outside. She went to the entrance; the outside world for a long distance was empty and devoid of people by whose reaction she could judge the situation. It was when another explosion occurred that she thought to look up, and saw what it was, what had happened.

It was the Citadel of Bone. No, this was not an attack, some massive invasion of Shuggazoom by the Skeleton King. Though the massive ship was coming down, it was coming down in flames. Bits were breaking off and disintigrating as it flew in an arc towards the ground. Adriana watched until it was out of sight, off in the distance where she knew it would crash within moments. She couldn't have kept the smile from her face if she had wanted to. Whatever the Monkey team had done, it had worked. She had just watched the end of an era, a cold an fearful one. And she couldn't help being happy...until she got back to the note.

"Both of these I do for you. I give you my soul, and my strength. To my first, and only, love.

-Saga"

Saga...Saga had done this. The happiness began to bubble forth even more, until she realized. Saga had done this...he had been on board that flaming wreck just now. An inferno of such magnitude that it was destroying the Citdel of Bone, utterly, from the inside.

Hey there, readers! Well...when I first started this chapter, I had in mind this speech about how I can no longer write these stories, that I no longer think in the same way I did when I began them. But writing this, I got a few ideas about this alternate "Suggazoom, after the King" where the worm thing didn't happen. So, I won't guarantee that this is the last you'll be hearing from me...but I don't know when I'll write more about this stuff. Could be later this evening, could be Easter or beyond. Until then, just in case it doesn't seem like it, I do read any notes I get, and if I can think of anything that seems worth saying I'll respond. Thank you, everyone, and goodbye for now.


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